Limited attention and information loss in the lab-to-farm knowledge chain: The case of Malawian agricultural extension programs
The International Food Policy Research Institute is leading a three-year research program to assess the state of agricultural extension and advisory services provision in Malawi in order to inform the national extension policy review and reformation of government and donor processes and programming....
| Autores principales: | , |
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| Formato: | Artículo preliminar |
| Lenguaje: | Inglés |
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International Food Policy Research Institute
2017
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| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147955 |
| _version_ | 1855528258396749824 |
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| author | Niu, Chiyu Ragasa, Catherine |
| author_browse | Niu, Chiyu Ragasa, Catherine |
| author_facet | Niu, Chiyu Ragasa, Catherine |
| author_sort | Niu, Chiyu |
| collection | Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace) |
| description | The International Food Policy Research Institute is leading a three-year research program to assess the state of agricultural extension and advisory services provision in Malawi in order to inform the national extension policy review and reformation of government and donor processes and programming. This research program includes a series of studies undertaken in response to a request by the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development to look closely at the state of extension services provision with the intent to further strengthen the contribution of these services to food security, economic growth, and the achievement of sustainable development goals. In this paper, we assess the flow of technical advice along the knowledge chain from scientists to farmers to identify the challenges in information provision. The advancement of social network literature has fostered the lead or contact farmer modality or farmer-to-farmer approach of information transmission. However, there is limited evidence regarding the information efficiency of this modality, and the reasons of the potential information loss. In this article, we assess information efficiency along the knowledge transmission chain from researchers to agricultural extension agents (EAs) to lead farmers (LFs) to other farmers. By asking the same set of questions about a fairly well known technology, pit planting, we construct a measure of knowledge at each node of the knowledge transmission chain. Descriptive evidence shows that the majority of information loss happens at the EA-to-LF link, and that the loss is potentially caused by limited attention of both EAs and LFs to all important details of the technology. With more evidence about the importance of knowledge for technology adoption, we suggest that EAs emphasize all crucial dimensions of an agricultural technique during demonstrations and visits in order to reduce information loss. |
| format | Artículo preliminar |
| id | CGSpace147955 |
| institution | CGIAR Consortium |
| language | Inglés |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publishDateRange | 2017 |
| publishDateSort | 2017 |
| publisher | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| publisherStr | International Food Policy Research Institute |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | CGSpace1479552025-11-06T06:31:52Z Limited attention and information loss in the lab-to-farm knowledge chain: The case of Malawian agricultural extension programs Niu, Chiyu Ragasa, Catherine knowledge sharing technology adoption extension systems The International Food Policy Research Institute is leading a three-year research program to assess the state of agricultural extension and advisory services provision in Malawi in order to inform the national extension policy review and reformation of government and donor processes and programming. This research program includes a series of studies undertaken in response to a request by the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Water Development to look closely at the state of extension services provision with the intent to further strengthen the contribution of these services to food security, economic growth, and the achievement of sustainable development goals. In this paper, we assess the flow of technical advice along the knowledge chain from scientists to farmers to identify the challenges in information provision. The advancement of social network literature has fostered the lead or contact farmer modality or farmer-to-farmer approach of information transmission. However, there is limited evidence regarding the information efficiency of this modality, and the reasons of the potential information loss. In this article, we assess information efficiency along the knowledge transmission chain from researchers to agricultural extension agents (EAs) to lead farmers (LFs) to other farmers. By asking the same set of questions about a fairly well known technology, pit planting, we construct a measure of knowledge at each node of the knowledge transmission chain. Descriptive evidence shows that the majority of information loss happens at the EA-to-LF link, and that the loss is potentially caused by limited attention of both EAs and LFs to all important details of the technology. With more evidence about the importance of knowledge for technology adoption, we suggest that EAs emphasize all crucial dimensions of an agricultural technique during demonstrations and visits in order to reduce information loss. 2017 2024-06-21T09:23:34Z 2024-06-21T09:23:34Z Working Paper https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147955 en https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148499 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/148443 https://hdl.handle.net/10568/150399 application/pdf International Food Policy Research Institute Niu, Chiyu and Ragasa, Catherine. 2017. Limited attention and information loss in the lab-to-farm knowledge chain: The case of Malawian agricultural extension programs. IFPRI Discussion Paper 1654. Washington, DC https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147955 |
| spellingShingle | knowledge sharing technology adoption extension systems Niu, Chiyu Ragasa, Catherine Limited attention and information loss in the lab-to-farm knowledge chain: The case of Malawian agricultural extension programs |
| title | Limited attention and information loss in the lab-to-farm knowledge chain: The case of Malawian agricultural extension programs |
| title_full | Limited attention and information loss in the lab-to-farm knowledge chain: The case of Malawian agricultural extension programs |
| title_fullStr | Limited attention and information loss in the lab-to-farm knowledge chain: The case of Malawian agricultural extension programs |
| title_full_unstemmed | Limited attention and information loss in the lab-to-farm knowledge chain: The case of Malawian agricultural extension programs |
| title_short | Limited attention and information loss in the lab-to-farm knowledge chain: The case of Malawian agricultural extension programs |
| title_sort | limited attention and information loss in the lab to farm knowledge chain the case of malawian agricultural extension programs |
| topic | knowledge sharing technology adoption extension systems |
| url | https://hdl.handle.net/10568/147955 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT niuchiyu limitedattentionandinformationlossinthelabtofarmknowledgechainthecaseofmalawianagriculturalextensionprograms AT ragasacatherine limitedattentionandinformationlossinthelabtofarmknowledgechainthecaseofmalawianagriculturalextensionprograms |